About
When I was 46 I started writing essays on life, or the state of the human condition as I once called it. Because I was halfway between old enough to vote (21) and planned retirement (72) it was known as the "Halfway Point" series of essays.

Later when I mentioned the essays in one context or another on USENET, I got requests for copies and eventually for future essays. Thus the mailing list was born, and it moved to the Internet when that became widely available. At that time I moved to writing on a schedule, the 1st, 11th, and 21st of the month.

Now the trend is to "blogs," and read on demand. I am therefore making this available as a blog, and we shall see if people read it here, or by mail, or not at all.

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Hiring politicians is hard (17:24)

We have odd choices when it comes to politicians, and the latest controversy about NY Gov David Patterson is just one example, but because it is current let me start there.

David Patterson became Governor when Elliot Spitzer resigned following the scandal regarding his patronage of high priced call girls. He started by telling the people and the legislators that he was bringing a new era of working with the legislators against them. Spitzer was known for quotes like "I'm a steamroller, baby" to threaten legislators who failed to do things his way. It all looked very promising.

The next day Patterson and his wife revealed that both had dated other people during a separation, "to avoid rumors." I personally think people are way too interested in politicians sex lives, and they, in return, are far too interested in controlling mine.

Now there is a story that Patterson took free World Series tickets and called a woman who was filing a complaint against one of Patterson's aides. While I don't approve of either, and one may have been illegal, I can still remember that the Senate didn't pass, or even meet to discuss, any legislation for weeks last summer, while they were putting their efforts into who shall control the Senate and not into who shall faithfully do the people's business?
Now they are trying to claim the high moral ground against Patterson, when their high ground is really a a moldering pile of barnyard waste. The legislators have not proposed any reasonable fund raising measures, or practical cuts, while staring at a multi-billion dollar budget deficit. From here it looks as if they are afraid to offend their contributors the special interest lobbys, or their voting block unions, so the burden is being droped on the middle class. Paterson has said that he will not run for reelection, but that he intends to stay and balance the budget.

Here's the dilemma. If Patterson resigns, Lt Governor Richard Ravitch, an elderly and unelected politician steps in as Governor. Ravitch was appointed Lt Governor by Patterson, and following a legal battle affirming the Governor's right to appoint a Lt Governor, he was recognized in July of 2009. Patterson's choice for Lieutenant Governor has no intention of running for office in the future, and he is totally a lame duck, having neither ambition nor constituents, so NY politicians have no reason to fear reprisal before or after the election. Do I, do we the people, decry Patterson for his apparent moral lapses, or do we seek to retain him as the last latch holding the door against a massive budget deficit?

If this seems familiar, consider embattled President Bill Clinton, who had a relationship with a woman other than his wife. While that was certainly a moral lapse, a lapse of judgment, the more we know about past Presidents the less it seems shocking. Clinton left the White House to a nation at peace with a balanced budget, and Patterson stays in office declaring that he will keep making cuts until the budget is balanced, unless the legislature finds extra funds. And given that the legislators are talking about funding by raising taxes on sugary drinks like soda (including diet) and orange juice, which puts the burden on the middle class, instead of raising the tax on those with the highest incomes, keeping Patterson suddenly looks better than the alternative.

Finally, to show the other side of the issue of morals vs. competence in politicians, consider George W. Bush. He failed to protect the country, got it into a war by lying about non-existent WMD in Iraq, demanded tax cuts in a time of war, leaving the country deep in debt to our competitors, approved or at least tolerated torture of prisoners and denying the rule of law to them. No matter how you feel about his goals, you can't think he showed competence in attempting to reach them. Yet he is a Christian, reportedly faithful to his wife, and beloved of his dogs and children.

And Barak Obama, who seems a most moral man, and fully capable of getting elected, seems to lack the fortitude to forsake bipartisan compromise or offend the extremist fringe members of his own party. Lyndon Johnson was not afraid to offend people, step on toes, make threats (and mean them), and otherwise take care of business, leaving a legacy of civil rights legislation and pissed off friends and opponents alike. Johnson made enemies when necessary, when compromise and persuasion didn't work, Spitzer appeared to make enemies because compromise and persuasion were lacking in his skill set. At least for the moment President Obama seems unwilling to offend, to make blunt threats in an election year.

Given a choice I'll take a competent person in any job, the nation, the state, and the localities can't afford any more professional politicians who avoid the hard choices, nor any more well-intentioned bumblers who are simply incapable of doing the job at all.